Bad Bunny Causes Uproar from Conservatives

Famed rapper and singer Bad Bunny is slated to perform during the half time show at this year’s Super Bowl. Due to the musician’s negative statements and sentiments toward America and the current Trump administration, many Americans have voiced their opposition to this announcement. And just like clockwork, covert accusations of racism are surfacing from self-righteous reporters.

The Hollywood Reporter published an article this week suggesting that the anger stems from Bad Bunny’s Spanish language use and his perceived citizenship status. “What these people are pissed about is the primary language of [Bad Bunny]’s vocals — at least I hope that’s what they are going with. Because just three years ago, Rihanna, who is from Barbados and not a U.S. citizen — whereas Bad Bunny is — performed the Super Bowl halftime show,” the article states. The rapper was born is Puerto Rico after it was an established US territory; therefore, he is technically a US citizen. The insinuation that opponents to his performance are too ignorant to understand that is classic leftist narcissism and a byproduct of a superiority complex.

The real reason for the uproar in Bad Bunny’s booking is his obvious disdain for America and his activist political stances. The rapper made a conscious choice not to include any US concerts in his most recent tour. He boycotted the entire country allegedly due to fear of immigration enforcement officers, and he expected his fans to travel internationally to see him perform. “But specifically, for a residency here in Puerto Rico, when we are an unincorporated territory of the US… People from the US could come here to see the show. Latinos and Puerto Ricans of the United States could also travel here, or to any part of the world. But there was the issue of — like, [freaking] ICE could be outside,” Bad Bunny reportedly said.

But what has changed? Why is he okay with performing in the US now? The singer’s tour was last year, and if anything, anti-ICE sentiments and tensions about immigration enforcement are currently at an all time high. Either Bad Bunny is willing to sell out his convictions for a big enough paycheck, or his reasons were purely anti-Trump and political.

But the bigger question is: Why did the NFL make such a decision knowing Bad Bunny’s polarizing political views? It certainly does not fit the demographic of those watching the big game. The largest demographic of people who watch the Super Bowl is males between the ages of 18 and 49, a majority of whom are in the upper part of that age range. However, the largest demographic that listens to Bad Bunny is in the lower end of that age range—from 18 to 24. Furthermore, his listener base tends to skew female. And while it is perfectly fine that Bad Bunny sings primarily in Spanish, a vast majority of Super Bowl viewers are English speaking. In fact, only about 1% of the viewership of last year’s Super Bowl watched it via a Spanish speaking network, like Telemundo.

If the choice of Bad Bunny as a half-time performer does not speak to the main viewership of the Super Bowl and effectively has angered half of the country, the NFL seems to be taking a hard lined political stance. They are choosing to alienate a large subsection of their audience to passively condone anti-ICE rhetoric, the kind that has led to riots that border on domestic terrorism. This may be a profoundly moronic move financially for the football league, but only time will tell.